Eileen Fisher x Sashiko Workshop | Making Space

We are very excited to announce that Atsushi will offer the Sashiko Stitching Workshop at the “Making Space“, which is operated by a well-known Fashion Brand, Eileen Fisher. Yes. This is an announcement of Eileen Fisher x Sashiko Workshop by Atsushi Futatsuya.

The participants will learn all the basic to enjoy Sashiko Stitching and will be able to use some Eileen Fisher Fabric swatches to enjoy Sashiko on. The participants may bring their own Eileen Fisher Garments to add Sashiko stitching or Sashiko Stitched Swatch on.

The concept of Making Space is to create a community where people can gather. It is my honor to be part of this movement, and we sincerely appreciate the generosity of Eileen Fisher to let me offer the workshop with the reasonable pricing. It will be a great opportunity for you to learn Sashiko, in a beautiful location in Brooklyn, with surrounded by their beautiful products.

Reuse the Garment. Synchronize the Sashiko we respect.

After I received an invitation to offer the Sashiko Workshop at Making Space, I studied about Eileen Fisher as a Fashion Brand. Well, as a male from Japan, I didn’t know of Eileen Fisher before. The first message I learned from their website is “to Care”, in which I value the most in a process of sharing the culture of Sashiko.

Sashiko was originally developed in a survival purpose. They had to use the needle and thread to survive through the severe winter. In modern society, in the developed countries, almost no one need to use the needle and thread to survive the winter. In fact, the social issue rises from the other side of mending: wasting.

The reason Keiko and I started a project called Sashi.Co is to “bring a life back to the beautiful yet not-used Japanese (vintage) fabric.” By doing Sashiko stitching, the vintage fabric gets stronger and more durable with interesting patterns. Patchworking (=connecting) these unique individual vintage fabric give the fabric another life. Keiko tells fabric, “We will bring you back to the main stage, again.” We define the main stage as the “ordinary days”. The stage we have in our mind is not a fashion stage with many spotlights. It is merely an ordinary day where a person can wear.

Resuing the garment to produce something new.

Using the needle and thread, making Sashiko stitching to repurpose the garment.

Upcycling what we already have with appreciation.

I am happy that I can offer what I am proud of (Sashiko) in such a great space.

More information Coming. More stories I would like to tell.

When I started my own Sashiko project, Upcycle Stitches, I had a great opportunity to talk to the students at FIT. Since I wasn’t ready to face to the future fashion stars, I probably gave them strange answers, which probably include some of the disappointment. Well… I wasn’t really ready to share my opinion about the fashion waste and potential pollution. It was (and probably still is) too big to answer.

However, I met many people who “Care” as I do.

It is another reason I started our Youtube Channel to share what we do. The event of “Eileen Fisher x Sashiko Workshop” is a beginning of another journey to me. I will study more about their concepts, and I will connect and synchronize what we believe in. More stories are coming up. The “Eileen Fisher x Sashiko Workshop” continues.